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Practicalities
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Locarno's
train station
is 150m northeast of Piazza Grande. Between the two is the landing stage on the lake; summer boats run to nearby Swiss lakeside resorts such as Ascona, and way south to Italian ones such as Stresa (IR, ER & SP no discount;
www.navlaghi.it
). The
tourist office
is in the Casino complex opposite the landing stage (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm; March-Oct also Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 10am-2pm; tel 091/751 03 33,
www.maggiore.ch
). Both the modern
HI hostel
Ostello Palagiovani
, Via Varenna 18 (tel 091/756 15 00,
www.youthhostel.ch
; ?10-15/$16-24; bus #31/#36 to Cinque Vie) and central
Citta Vecchia
, Via Torretta 13 (tel 091/751 45 54,
www.cittavecchia.ch
; ?10-15/$16-24; closed Nov-Feb) have dorms and rooms;
Ostello Giaciglio
, Via Rusca 7 (tel 091/751 30 64; ?10-15/$16-24) has dorms only. The pricey
Delta
campsite
(tel 091/751 60 81) is fifteen minutes south along the lakeshore. There's a self-service
Inova
beside the station and Piazza Grande is full of cafes and pizzerias buzzing from morning until after midnight, although
eating
and
drinking
is more atmospheric in the Old Town alleys.
Cittadella
serves affordable pizzas; friendly
Bar del Pozzo
is on Piazza Sant'Antonio;
Cantina Canetti
off Piazza Grande has live accordion on weekend nights;
Simba
, Lungolago 3a, is a popular DJ bar. Music festivals devoted to country, blues, funk and jazz follow hot on each other's heels during June and July, while early August's excellent
Locarno International Film Festival
(
www.pardo.ch
) is stealing a march on Cannes for movie quality and star-appeal; catch nightly offerings on Europe's largest movie screen (26?14m), set up in Piazza Grande. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Switzerland,
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